Cooma
| pop_footnotes = | est = | elevation= 800 | maxtemp = 19.3 | mintemp = 4.1 | rainfall = 532.9 | stategov = Monaro | fedgov = Eden-Monaro | dist1 = 397| dir1 = SW | location1 = Sydney | dist2 = 116| dir2 = S | location2 = Canberra | dist3 = 112| dir3 = NW | location3 = Bega | near-s = Nimmitabel | near-nw = Adaminaby | near-n = Bredbo | near-sw = Jindabyne and Berridale | near-se = | near-e = | near-w = | near-ne = }} Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina. The town has a population of 6,301. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'. History Cooma was explored by Captain J. M. Currie in 1823. It was first surveyed in 1840 and it was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. The railway from Sydney was extended from Royalla to Cooma in 1889under the supervision of John Whitton. The line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1986. The estimated population of Cooma was 47 in 1851 and it grew to 2330 (1911), 1969 (1933), 2249 (1947), 9103 (1966), 7353 (1976) and 7978 (1981). In 1949, the town became the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and grew rapidly. Those working on the Snowy Scheme depended on the railway and during construction of the scheme, the railways were one the largest employers in the region. In 1959 the tenth anniversary of the scheme was celebrated with the erection of an avenue of flags representing the 27 nationalities of people working on the scheme. Cooma has developed a growing tourism industry as it became the main rest stop for many travellers heading to the NSW snow fields during the winter months. As a result, the town nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'. The Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma contains artifacts recovered from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft Southern Cloud, which crashed on 21 March 1931 in the Toolong range of the Australian Alps. The wreck was not found until 26 October 1958. Education Government schools include Monaro High School, a high school that serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages including Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety. The other two government schools support primary education and are Cooma Public School and Cooma North Public School, both providing education for students in kindergarten to year 6. The Roman Catholic school is called St Patrick's Parish School and provides education from kindergarten to year 10. The Snowy Mountains Christian School, an independent Christian school provides education from kindergarten to year 10. Tertiary education is provided by TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute Cooma campus. Climate Cooma has a dry, mild climate with warm summer summers and cool to cold winters. The annual mean rainfall is , with winter being the driest season. The area falls in a rain shadow. Mean daily minimum temperatures range from (July) to (January), with annual mean daily minimum of . Mean daily maximum temperatures range from (July) to (January), with annual mean daily maximum of . Cooma is south of the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, a main tributary of the Murray–Darling basin. Cooma sources its water from the river. For the first time in history the river ceased flowing in December 2006. This was due to extensive drought in eastern Australia. This forced Cooma to adopt water restrictions, trying to limit Cooma's water consumption to a day, down from the then consumption of a day. |date=September 2013 }} Media Newspapers Two newspapers operate in Cooma, The Monaro Post, which began in 2006, and is independently owned by Gail Eastaway, Tracy Frazer and Louise Platts and The Cooma Monaro Express published for 134 years and owned by Fairfax Media .The Monaro Post Cooma-Monaro Express Radio stations *'2XL' 918 AM (commercial) *'Snow FM' 97.7 FM (commercial) *'Triple J' 100.1 FM *'ABC South-East' 810 AM/1602 AM *'Radio National' 95.3 FM/100.9 FM *'Classic FM' 99.3 *'Monaro FM' 90.5 (community) *'Racing Radio' 96.9 FM *'Vision Radio' 88.0 FM (narrowcast, relay) Note: transmitters for 2XL and Snow FM, as well as some ABC services, are in place throughout the Snowy Mountains. Television Cooma receives five free-to-air television networks including all the digital free-to-air channels relayed from Canberra, broadcast from the Telstra site Radio Hill translator in Cooma Common, off Polo Flat Road. Stations available include: * ABC * SBS * Prime7 * WIN * Southern Cross Ten. Another transmitter for the Cooma and surrounding Monaro region is located at Mount Roberts approximately 30 km NNE of the town, broadcasting The Three Commercial Networks and the ABC services, but not SBS Television Services. Transport Cooma is serviced by Cooma - Snowy Mountains Airport which is 15 kilometres from the CBD. Cooma has a bus service connecting various areas of town three times a day run by Cooma Coaches. Cooma is serviced by CountryLink buses which make daily journeys to both Canberra and the Bega Valley. Cooma has a taxi service run by Cooma Radio Taxis. Passenger trains operated to Cooma (the ''Cooma Mail) until 1986.Banger C. ''The Railway Refreshment Rooms of New South Wales 1855-1995. ''ARHS Bulletin, Vol 54, no.790. August 2003. The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway using historic NSW Railmotors built in the 1920s. The railway operates a weekend and Public Holiday service to Bunyan and Chakola on a portion of track used by the Bombala railway line. People associated with Cooma People born in Cooma include: * John (Bērziņš) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, bishop of Caracas * Torah Bright - Olympic Snowboarder * Jamie Burns - N.S.W Cricketer, 1927 * Carmen Duncan - actress * Paula Duncan - actress * Michael Gordon - rugby league player in the National Rugby League * A. D. Hope - poet and essayist * Flt Lt Pat Hughes DFC - RAAF pilot. One of The Few, Hughes was the highest scoring Australian in the Battle of BritainDistinguished Flying Cross : Flight Lieutenant P C Hughes, 234 Squadron RAF AWM Collection Record: REL/17986.001 * Horst Kwech - Austrian born, Cooma raised, motor racing driver in the early US based Trans-Am Series * Steve Liebmann - journalist * John Tierney - politician * John Tranter - poet * Brett White - rugby league player in the National Rugby League * Sam Willams - rugby league player in the National Rugby League * Charlotte Wood - author Mars The name Cooma is used as a name for a crater on the planet Mars, without specifically commemorating the town.Categories for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, USGS Astrogeology Science Center, NASA Gallery File:Cooma, NSW, Post Office, jjron, 04.12.2010.jpg|Cooma Post Office File:Aviation Pioneers Memorial, Cooma, NSW, jjron, 24.09.2008.jpg|Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma Image:NannyGoatCooma.JPG|Bronze Nanny Goat, Nanny Goat Hill Lookout at Cooma File:CPH6 Chakola.jpg|CPH railmotor No. 6 at Chakola station, Cooma Monaro Railway See also * Cooma Correctional Centre * Snowy Mountains Scheme * Bombala railway line - Railway line through Cooma References and notes External links * Category:Towns in New South Wales Category:Snowy Mountains Scheme Category:Snowy Mountains Highway